‘Endgame’ may be just another beginning
Black Panther. Spider-Man. Doctor Strange. Bucky Barnes. Scarlet Witch. Groot. Those casualties are just a portion of the death toll from “Avengers: Infinity War” that still has superhero fans reeling.
Fortunately for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, original Avengers Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) are still kicking. And in the hotly anticipated follow-up “Avengers: Endgame” (officially opening Friday, though theaters will show it Thursday night), the good guys are teaming with other surviving heroes to avenge the fallen and take the fight yet again to Thanos (Josh Brolin), the cosmic villain who used the all-powerful Infinity Stones to erase half of existence across the universe.
But the plot is really sketchy going into this culminating chapter of the 20plus Marvel films so far since 2008’s “Iron Man.” You can bet, though, that there’ll be at least one, and probably multiple, end-credits scenes, perhaps setting up what Marvel’s future will look like.
USA TODAY talked with Anthony Russo, who directed “Infinity War” and “Endgame” alongside brother Joe, about what everyone needs to know about the newest Marvel blockbusterto-be:
Iron Man remains an extremely combustible guy
The Russos have long found Tony Stark to be among the most complex characters in the MCU because of his “amazing” journey, going from a narcissistic arms dealer to dealing with PTSD after stopping an alien attack on Manhattan to throwing down in brutal fashion with his Avengers co-leader Cap. “He started from such a self-centered place that to see him (become a hero) in that narrative, and increasingly so as the stories have gone on, has been fascinating,” Anthony Russo says. “That is certainly something that we’re moving forward in this story. That character arc is really central to not just the identity of Tony Stark but the nature of the Avengers.”
Captain Marvel adds a Wrinkle to the story
The Russos directed two “Captain America” films, and they approached the super-soldier as “a very human character that, even though he had remarkable capacity, was still limited in terms of where that capacity could go,” Anthony Russo says. Now Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) joins the fray as someone on the opposite side of the spectrum whose powers are immense. “That always scared Joe and I, to be
honest, because we love vulnerability in characters.”
While initially intimidated by her, they’ve found ways to have Carol Danvers intersect with the continuing MCU narrative: “How does she be truly human? And how do we find a psychological realism in that character that we relate to and we empathize with?”
Hawkeye and Ant-Man have seen some serious stuff
To some fans’ dismay, a couple of heroes were AWOL during “Infinity War.” Audiences caught up with Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) in “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which ended with him being stuck in the microscopic Quantum Realm. And “Endgame” finds ace archer Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in a mysteriously dark place, with an edgier haircut and outfit, plus a sword. “There’s a special opportunity with those characters in terms of exploring what (the ending of “Infinity War) meant to them and how that’s moving them forward,” Russo says. “Part of the reason why we kept those characters out was for that specific reason, so we had more of a spectrum in this movie of different characters having different relationships to what happened.”
Captain America is all of us
The body count from Thanos’ apocalyptic snap? More than a dozen key Marvel heroes gone. All of the surviving superfriends are dealing, but “Endgame” also will explore how it affected everybody, even non-superpowered folks. A very emotional Cap – whose origins during World War II presented him as a symbol – is “meant to be sort of a vanguard for the rest of us,” Russo says. “His experiences and what he’s trying to achieve, what he’s threatened by, it’s completely tied to what we are all experiencing as a people because he’s a representative of us. This is something that we’re all experiencing.”
Thanos is a marked man
While Cap and friends have a bone to pick with the big purple guy, the end of “Infinity War” had Thanos seemingly at peace on an unknown planet. “He had been on this quest for many, many years to achieve something, and he achieved it,” Russo says. “It was something that, in his mind, was selfless and it was serving the universe and it was serving others. There was a satisfaction in that for him, and he was able to put down his sword finally and basically acknowledge the fact that his job was done.” Thanos might want to make sure he knows where his armor is hanging – he might need it soon enough.
The original Avengers complete their long journey
The Russos have been comic-book fans since they were kids, “so we don’t take anything for granted” directing these films, Anthony Russo says. “Working with these characters has been precious to us.” And for all the original Avengers who have appeared in their films – Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) – “Endgame” is the completion of their collective arc. “That means different things for different characters. This movie was intended to be the end of a very long, elaborate, sprawling narrative so we are driving toward that in very meaningful ways.”